The Crisis

First published on December 19, 1776; excerpted from Common Sense and Other Political Writings, 1953

"These are the times that try men's souls."

Thomas Paine

One of the greatest writers of the Revolutionary era was Thomas Paine (1737–1809), whose Common Sense is described in chapter 1. Paine was born and raised in England. He tried his hand at several different jobs before he turned to writing. He had only been in America for a few months when he was first asked to use his writing talent in the cause of American independence. His first effort, Common Sense, was quite successful. Two years after his arrival in America, Paine wrote the first of The Crisis papers.

Paine joined General George Washington's (1732–1799) army in New Jersey in December 1776. By then, Washington was a desperate man. He had just been soundly defeated in New York and...